RE: I Asked 4Chan What They Think of Steemit, Here's What I Got!

This has been a really interesting post. Both the post and the comments underneath. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said, but I do disagree with this point. I think the comment of just finding a whale and commenting is a thing of the past.

I can see from you’re account that you’ve been here about twice as long as me. I’d argue it was a lot easier to get noticed when you started than when I did. Similarly it was a lot easier when I started than for someone who registers today. There’s lots of reasons for this, but 2 stand out for me.

Even whales only have so many votes they can share around. There’s so many more people trying to get the attention of a whale these days the chances you’ll find one who will support you is getting smaller and smaller. And even if they do, the support they can give is smaller because they are sharing their votes amongst so many more people.
And I think this is more relevant, is that the price of steem has risen so much. I did the same as you and bought some steem when I started to kick start my account. Steem was only 85c back then so I got quite a lot of SP for a relatively small investment. If i started today I couldn’t get anywhere near as much, so buying influence is out. Similarly since the price has gone up, I get less SP in rewards for content and curation. If you’re just here for the dollars it makes no difference. In fact the break in the SBD peg has actually made it easier to make money than it was. But if you want influence and all the benefits that come with it (voting power, censorship resistance and a better chance to be heard) then it’s harder now than it was when you and I started out. Six months from now it’s going to be even harder still. I think this has the potential to be a real issue in the future, because a lot of people don’t just come here for money, they come here to share opinions, influence discussions and become involved in the community. I don’t know what the drop off rate is currently, but I bet it’s big and I totally understand why people get frustrated and leave. The system is working against them.

I don’t actually know how to fix the problem but unless we can find a way to level the playing field a bit then I think it will get to a point where people will stop coming because it will just be too hard to get started. I love this place and I’ve put A LOT of my own money into Steem. I’m a believer. I think steem is especially powerful for people from poorer countries. A couple USD is nothing to me, but for someone from cebpntral Africa, it’s huge. The potential for people from less advantaged communities than mine to earn real money that can change their lives is what block chain is (or should be) all about. But it can be easy to focus just on the money. Steemit is a way to make money, but it’s so much more than that.

Great post though! I’d seen a few of your posts floating around but never really engaged with them. I’m now a firm follower and look forward to reading more of your posts in the future 👍